By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
The online battle-royale game PUBG Mobile recently partnered with the luxury car brand Maserati to bring several sports car models to the playing field.
The deal between the two brands was facilitated by Maserati’s licensing agency IMG, a subsidiary of the global sports and entertainment company Endeavor.
“PUBG MOBILE and Maserati are both widely considered as some of the most influential and coveted brands among young generations,” said Endeavor China CEO Sum Huang. “As Maserati’s licensing agency, we feel extremely privileged to land this great IP in PUBG MOBILE, providing game users a brand-new experience with world-class sports cars.”
PUBG Mobile is a free-to-play online mobile game that features battle-royale matches of up to 100 players that end when only one player or team remains alive.
The matches include aspects of survival and scavenging through the use of features such as a steadily shrinking battle zone, airborne supply drops, and random bombings. The game is a mobile adaptation of the 2017 console game PUBG: BattleGrounds.
PUBG Mobile was developed by Lightspeed Studios, a division of Tencent Games. Tencent Games is the video game publishing arm of the multinational entertainment conglomerate, Tencent Holdings.
The Maserati car models introduced in PUBG Mobile included the sportscar MC20, the Maserati Coup, the Levante SUV, and an unlockable surprise vehicle.
The licensed Maserati sports cars were available to PUBG Mobile players from Nov. 18 to Dec. 31, 2022.
“We’re always looking to provide players with partnerships that enrich the PUBG MOBILE experience,” said Vincent Wang, Tencent Games. “With Maserati’s historic record of remaining at the forefront of their industry, they made the perfect partner for us to collaborate with. We’re thrilled to help bring together the worlds of automotive design and interactive gaming as the virtual world expands and becomes more crucial to the development of global technology as a whole.”
Maserati is a long-standing luxury car manufacturer based in Italy. The Maserati brand produces a complete range of vehicles that are available in more than seventy markets worldwide.
The company was acquired by the multinational automotive manufacturer, Stellantis, in 2021. Last spring, Maserati’s Chief Executive Officer announced that the brand will release electric versions of all of its luxury car models by 2025.